Traditional arts and material culture | |
| While Papua is home to a wide variety of art traditions, only several iconic forms are well known outside their local regions. European explorers, administrators and collectors often returned from Papua with extensive collections of material culture. These early visitors, together with more recent arrivals, have profoundly affected the production of art and its place in the lives of many Papuans. While there is a significant collection of Papuan artefacts in the Museum Nasional in Jakarta (www.museumnasional.org), and very modest collections at the Museum Provinsi (Provincial Museum) in Waena/Jayapura (www.kebudayaan.depdiknas.go.id/BudayaOnline/SitusBcb/Museum/n_papua.htmwww.wereldmuseum.rotterdam.nl) in Rotterdam and the Tropenmuseum of the Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen (the Museum of the Royal Institute for the Tropics, or KIT) in Amsterdam, hold the most significant institutional collections in Papuan art and material culture anywhere in the world. Unfortunately most of these objects are not on permanent exhibition, although many items in the National Museum of Ethnology collection may now be viewed online (www.rmv.nl). In 2003, the RMV opened an exhibition featuring recent and past material culture collections from the Kamoro region of southern Papua. Although "Papua Leeft" had a web presence in 2003, the only information that remains online about this exhibition appears to be references to the printed catalogue Kamoro Art: Tradition and Innovation in a New Guinea culture and news/reviews of the exhibition (such as www.westpapua.nl/2003_02/kamoro.html). Similarly, although the KIT hosted a small exhibition of photographs from the early Twentieth Century related to the Anglo-Dutch race to the tropical glaciers of Carstensz (Puncak Jaya), the exhibition catalogue Race to the Snow remains the only enduring web presence of this exhibition (purchase from KIT at www.kit.nl). *1 In 2007, the Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam will host a major pan-New Guinea exhibition, titled "The Power of Papua". and at the Museum Lokabudaya (the Anthropology Museum at Cenderawasih University in Abepura), the most comprehensive collections of Papuan art and material culture are held by several large museums in the Netherlands and a dispersed group of private collectors. The Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde (RMV, or National Museum of Ethnology) in Leiden, the Wereldmuseum (World Museum at The Barbier-Muller Museum, Geneva also holds a significant collection of Papuan art, but the items in its collection are not accessible via the web (www.barbier-mueller.ch/genevefr.html). More modest collections are held in numerous other European museums, including the Castello D'Albertis in Genoa, Italy (IT: www.castellodalbertis.comune.genova.it) and the Museo delle Culture, in Lugano, Switzerland (www.mcl.lugano.ch). In North America, one of the most significant collections of Papuan art was collected for the Museum of Primitive Art in New York, which was consolidated into the holdings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection in the Department of Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas (www.metmuseum.org). Australian collections of Papuan artefacts can be found through Australian Museums and Galleries On-Line (http://amol.org.au). A significant (if uncertain) number of private collections of Papuan art exists outside Papua in Indonesia and abroad but few of these are well documented or widely publicised.The best known Papuan art is the woodcarving of the Asmat people and in the past few decades most art development projects, art enthusiasts and dealers collecting in Papua have been drawn to this art form. While the Asmat region may have gained international notoriety in 1962 with the disappearance of Michael Rockefeller, it is the sustained support of the Crosier Catholic Missionaries (www.crosier.org) and the patronage of their former Bishop Alphonse Sowada which has been central to revival of Asmat art. In 1973 the Crosiers established the Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress at Agats and later the American Museum of Asmat Art (www.asmat.org). Asmat art is featured in several private collections which have a web presence, including that of long-term Asmat art collectors Ursula and Gunter Konrad (www.asmat.de) and the Equatorial Art Gallery website (www.asmatart.net or http://home.earthlink.net/~alkeeney). You can read about an art collector’s experience in Asmat (http://home.earthlink.net/~fchiaramonte/travel.htm). Papua is rich in many artistic traditions other than those of the Asmat. There are many contemporary artists across the province producing fine works in a variety of media. Several of these artists have been featured in exhibitions by Seichi Okawa and their work can be found at the Graha Budaya Indonesia or Indonesian Cultural Plaza in Tokyo (www.harapan.co.jp/Indonesia/GBI/GBI_index.htm - you need an extended Japanese character set to see all of this site). The arts of Lake Sentani, which have been overlooked by so many visitors to nearby Jayapura, have also been gaining recent popularity among domestic and foreign visitors to Papua. Read about the painted barkcloth of the Sentani region in an article by anthropologist Michael Howard (www.artasiapacific.com/articles/maro/maro1.html with hotlinked footnotes). The internet has many other webpages about New Guinea tribal arts and art dealers (such as www.art-pacific.com/artifacts/nuguinea/asmat/asmatmap.htm). Sarinah, the exclusive Indonesian department store on Jalan Thamrin, was one of the first places to commercialise Asmat art in Jakarta (http://bubu.com/sarinah/asmat.htm) as part of their arts and crafts collection from across the archipelago. | |
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A funeral event in Bali is as festive and conspicuous as a wedding. Long funeral processions crawling through Denpasar's narrow streets often clog traffic arteries and halt people's activities.
But no true Balinese would ever grumble about this inconvenience. Instead, every road user quite willingly shows deep respect for the occasion and makes way for the procession to proceed to the nearest cremation grounds.
The long procession of relatives and sympathizers, all dressed in festive traditional attire and accompanied by a lively band of musicians, enters the grounds.
Not less impressive is the funeral pyre; mounted on a bamboo platform and carried by more than a dozen strong men. On top of the pyre, adorned with ornate decorations in resplendent gold and silver, is the coffin of the deceased. As proscribed by tradition, a close relative rides next to the coffin to hold it in place during the journey.
The funeral of Ni Luh Wati, who died of heart disease at the age of 70, took place 10 days after the deceased passed away, allowing relatives to gather at her home and pay their last respects.
After the grieving period, relatives began working on preparations for the festive procession in order to free the deceased's soul from the body.
In Balinese-Hindu cremations, grief is turned into a colorful event, with gongs, cymbals and flute musicians paving the way to the cremation grounds.
Contrary to modern beliefs, which see death as the end of one's life, traditional Balinese-Hindu beliefs deem death as just a transition from one phase of a person's life to the next.
As the procession of Ni Luh Wati's funeral arrived at the cremation grounds, the coffin was brought down from the pyre. The deceased, wrapped in white cloth, was taken out and placed in a banana trunk-walled enclosure.
Offerings and burial paraphernalia are also placed in the enclosure.
A piece of white cloth was spanned over the enclosed area to signify respect. The organizer of the cremation event had prepared four powerful gas burners, which were placed at the corners of the enclosure and directed towards the corpse.
After last respects were paid, along with the incantation of mantras and prayers, the burners were lit. Huge tongues of flames and black smoke, signifying the demolishing process of the corpse had begun, filled the air above the body.
While members of the procession relaxed under the shade of a big tree to relief themselves of Bali's midday sun, the organizer remained constantly busy.
The organizer was there to ensure that the burst of fire was constantly directed to the remains of the deceased. After four or five hours of burning, the gas burners were removed and the organizer informed relatives that the cremation process was over.
He pulled out a large sheet of zinc, on which the deceased's body had been laid, to show what was left -- only a handful of ash and some bone fragments.
Relatives were invited to sprinkle water over the ashes as mantras and prayers were once again performed.
In Bali-Hindu tradition, the ashes are taken to the beach and released into the sea.
The funeral of Ni Luh Wati was regarded a simple cremation, however, it costs several million rupiah to carry out.
The cremation of a member of an aristocratic family -- such as that of Tjokorda Gede Agung Suyasa, the Prince of Ubud, which was held last week -- are generally more elaborate and require a bigger budget.
The pyre that holds the deceased's body in such elaborate cremations is always decorated lavishly and usually takes the shape of a mythical Garuda bird or a buffalo. Grand cremation ceremonies take weeks, sometimes months, of preparation.
Such cremations often provide an opportunity for the less affluent to join in the festive atmosphere to give their deceased family member a befitting start on their way to heaven. This was also the case in last week's elaborate Ubud cremation, in which the remains of 68 others were included in the grand ceremony.
[thejakartapost]
1. Alcohol
Your demur Thai bar girl sweetheart will drink you under the table. However, she won't be satisfied with cheap local brands. Only costly imported beverages hit the spot. A huge duty-free bottle of Bailey's is the one thing that might stop her slaughtering your mini-bar.
2. Sweet shit
Thai bar girls love sugary snacks because prancing around that chromium pole and shagging all your mates requires a lot of energy. Let her shovel it in but remember to dump her before the dental bills arrive.
3. Seafood
Thai food is cheap and delicious but don't expect to taste any. Your Thai bar girl will go seafood-crazy when you foot the bill. Even when already gorged with sweet shit, she can still take on a blue whale. Try to keep smiling when she tells her friends to order whatever they want.
4. Som Tam
Part papaya salad and part incendiary device, a plate of som tam is next on her agenda. You could try some too - to burn the taste of that ghastly blubber out of your mouth.
5. Transport
Even if your room is just across the street, your Thai bar girl isn't going to walk there. The genes that enabled her parents' generation to toil in the rice fields are rarely inherited. To avoid tantrums, call a taxi. Stairs will provoke yet more whining. Make a mental note to buy a magic fucking carpet.
6. Dreadful Thai TV
Once in the room, your Thai bar girl will be straight over to the TV. She can't resist the awful Thai game shows and soap operas. To everyone else they are sheer torture and make the Shopping Channel look like quality entertainment. If you don't have UBC, you are doomed.
7. Games console
There are two activities you can enjoy with your Thai bar girl and this is the other one.
8. Cartoons
Sometimes a man needs his princess to amuse herself quietly. A pile of Thai cartoon magazines will shut her up for hours. Never discard them - they will do for the next girl.
9. Ganja
If you're daft enough to have any weed, your Thai bar girl will save you a long stretch in Thai jail (See Smile, you're in Thai jail) by smoking your entire stash. Afterwards, she will fall into the sleep of the righteous without so much as a thank you blow-job.
10. Gold
Inevitably, the relationship must end when your Thai bar girl asks for gold. She will be walking on air when you take her to the jewellers. Wait until she is thoroughly weighed down with trinkets before you walk out and leave her there. Turn back and enjoy the look of despair on her face. If she gives chase, laugh as the greedy tart is rugby-tackled by the shop's burly guards.
www.mangosauce.com
10 thing's Free in Paris [ Indonesian version ]
Sesungguhnya hal-hal terbaik dalam hidup tersedia gratis di sekitar kita, bahkan di Paris yang mahal. Jika Anda berencana ke Paris atau suatu saat berada di kota itu, berikut adalah beberapa kegiatan atau hal yang Anda bisa nikmati secara gratis.
Keindahan dalam rumput yang bergoyang: Paris merupakan sebuah kota yang dipadati penghuni apartemen. Banyak taman di Paris berfungsi sebagai halaman belakang bagi keluarga-keluarga yang tak terhitung jumlahnya. Tempat ini tentunya menjadi surga pula bagi para turis. Beberapa taman favorit di antaranya Jardin des Tuileries dan, diseberang sungai Seine, Jardin du Luxembourg, Jardin du Carrousel (di samping Tuileries), Place des Vosges, Jardin du Palais Royal, dan Parc du Champ de Mars.
Bergabung dengan angkatan kerja: Ada sesuatu yang amat menarik ketika kita memperhatikan orang-orang melakukan pekerjaannya sementara kita berlibur. Program lama berupa open houses digabung dengan metode inovative menghasilkan Meet the Parisians at Work (Melihat Orang-orang Paris Saat Mereka Bekerja). Nah, di situ Anda bisa melihat aksi langsung para tukang jagal, pembuat roti, pembuat tempat lilin, bahkan pemotong berlian.
Menikmati pemujaan para pahlawan: Anda tertarik mencari petualangan baru? Para pecinta buku dapat melakukan tour ke rumah memorabilia Honoré de Balzac (di 47 Rue Raynouard) dan Victor Hugo (di Place des Vosges yang begitu elegan). Sementara mereka yang lebih ke tipe peneliti bisa mengunjungi Left Bank Laboratory dimana Marie Curie bekerja sejak 1914 hingga kematiannya tahun 1934. Musée Curie's yang telah direstorasi dengan sangat teliti memiliki perabot asli, instrumen-instrumen, dan tiga hadiah nobel yang dimenangkan oleh klan Curie.
Melihat cahaya: Untuk tahu mengapa Paris dijuluki "Kota Cahaya", Anda cukup berjalan-jalan ketika hari mulai gelap saat atraksi bintang menerangi langit bagaikan pohon natal. Satu hal yang tak bisa dilewatkan adalah Menara Eiffel, yang diselimuti oleh 800 senar cahaya putih yang menakjubkan. Untuk efek yang lebih menakjubkan, datanglah disaat Anda bisa menyaksikan 20,000 bola lampu berkelip-kelip selama 10 menit waktu pertunjukan. Ingin tahu lebih banyak mengenai menara ini? Klik en.parisinfo.com untuk download panduan audionya, gratis, dan enam situs lainnya.
Penghormatan terakhir: Pemakaman Pére-Lachaise merupakan tempat yang nyaman untuk menghabiskan waktu sepanjang sore. Sejak 1804 pemakaman ini yang terletak di 20th arrondissement telah menjadi tempat peristirahatan terakhir bagi orang-orang terkenal yang menjadi ikon budaya. Chopin, Colette, Molière, Modigliani: mereka semua terbaring disini. Demikian juga Oscar Wilde, Isadora Duncan, Georges Seurat, Sarah Bernhardt, Gertrude Stein, dan Jim Morrison.
Dapatkan semangatnya: Walau Anda harus membayar untuk menapaki menara-menara atau menuruni ruang bawah tanah beberapa katedral Paris yang luar biasa, Anda tidak akan dipungut bayaran ketika memasuki tempat-tempat keagamaan. Beberapa nama besar menawarkan yang ekstra. Notre Dame, contohnya, secara khusus mengadakan resital organ gratis di minggu sore dan tur dalam bahasa inggris tiga kali seminggu. Tidak mau kalah, Sacré-Coeur mengundang pengunjung menghadiri gladi resik koor selama satu jam di minggu pagi jam 9:45.
Bersepatu roda dan bergembira: Bersepatu roda setiap minggu menjadi acara yang fenomenal dan populer di Paris. Bersepatu roda di hari Minggu dengan pembawa acara dari Rollers & Coquillages memadati daerah bebas kendaraan seluas 12 mil, dan mulai beraksi pada pukul 2:30 sore di dekat Place de la Bastille. Acara serupa yang lebih ekstrem versi 18-mile dilakukan setiap Jumat malam. Jika sepatu bot Anda dirancang untuk berjalan, akan lebih bijaksana untuk bergabung dalam rando-panameurs dalam acara hiking gratis bulanan.
Menjilati jendela: Lèche-vitrines (atau "menjilati jendela") sama dengan istilah window shopping, dan orang-orang Paris telah mengangkatnya menjadi suatu seni tersendiri. Untuk mencicipinya pertama kali tempat terbaik adalah di sekitar Avenue Montaigne dan Rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, di saana pedagang ritel yang amat chic menggelar toko-toko mereka. Dari toko yang dimulai dengan huruf "C" saja, Anda akan menemukan Cartier, Chanel, Chloe, Christian Dior dan Christian Lacroix. Bisakah Anda katakan "Ooh la la?"
Berdansa sepanjang malam: Akan mengeluarkan dana yang lumayan untuk menyaksikan para can-can girls menendang—nendangkan tumit mereka di Moulin Rouge. Namun ada banyak tempat dimana Anda bisa mempraktekkan gerakan-gerakan Anda sendiri -dan mungkin mendapat sedikit pelajaran- tanpa mengluarkan uang sepeser pun. Bagi para pemula, pergilah menuju ke tempat dansa plein air (buka setiap malam, jika cuaca memungkinkan, pada bulan Mei hingga September) di Quai Saint-Bernard. Apakah Anda siap melakukan tango terakhir Anda di Paris atau gavotte Anda yang pertama? Tourism Board dapat memandu Anda menuju tempat yang tepat.
Pergi ke Museum: Jangan bosan dulu. Paris memiliki beberapa dari museum paling menarik di dunia dan beberapa di antaranya bisa dimasuki gratis. Itu berarti Anda dapat menelusuri sejarah kota di Musée Carnavalet (sebuah mansion abad ke-16 yang menjadi rumah bagi kano-kano dari zaman Neolithikum hingga buaian Napoleon), atau menikmati seni dan artifak di Musée Cognacq-Jay, dan mengetahui cerita-cerita tentang parfum Perancis di Musée Fragonard, semua tanpa mengeluarkan uang sepeser pun. Louvre yang terkenal gratis bagi pengunjung di bawah umur 18 tahun, dan gratis sepenuhnya bagi semua orang pada 1 hari minggu dalam sebulan. [kompas]Fresh Asian Girls
